Crossroads
by Falcon's Hyperdrive
Summary: "Wrong place, wrong time," seems to be how Iaana Morranne's life has been going in the past month. Or maybe she's wrong? Maybe it's "Right place, right time"? Running into Boba Fett on more than one occasion, however, doesn't lead Iaana to think that . . . ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Crossroads**

**A Star Wars FanFic**

**Based on the RPG, **_**Another Diplomatic Mission**_

**on the Star Wars fan site **_**Force Storm**_

_By Hyperdrive and other members of Force Storm _

Begun 4-25-07

**Part One**

_**First Crossing**_

**Chapter One**

It was lonely out here in the galaxy. All that had happened so recently was a little hard to comprehend. She was only eighteen. It was probably selfish, with hundreds of others having suffered the same loss, but she couldn't help it. She just wanted to cry. To grieve. To destroy the Imperials who had murdered everyone she knew. To not move again, for the waking moments might be worse than those in which she slept. The dreams haunted her. The memories were comforting, but they reminded her of what she had just lost, scarcely two weeks back. Some of the images frightened her, being from a not-so-distant past in which the events had taken her from her friends, family, and homeworld, and had unwittingly saved her life. Though she was not a Jedi and could not feel it, the Force echoed with the tragedy, calling it out over and over again that billions had lost their lives in one swift, cruel stroke. Billions of voices crying out in fear, and then . . . utter silence.

Alderaan, and all its art, literature, plants, creatures, and - the greatest loss of all - its people, were gone.

The sight of the Shards of Alderaan had struck the girl to her core, upon returning home after an adventure she wished she could have avoided but had spared her from the same fate as those of billions of others. She should have been there. She shouldn't have had to live with the pain of never seeing her father, other family members - not her mother, for she had died when the girl was young - friends, teachers, and her fiancé, Jaren Key, again.

Her father had been a successful merchant, back when he was alive. His name was Alex Morranne, and had been a good father to his only child, Iaana. As for her, she was an excellent mechanic, but had the peculiar tendency to shout at whatever piece of machinery she was working on, or, if she was flying, her ship when it didn't do what she wanted. Her flying skills almost matched her mechanical skills, especially considering she had become very good at flying a Z-95 Headhunter in vacuum. Her memory was almost impeccable, having the odd habit to forget minor details. It was reliable enough, though, and her friends at school had often asked her to help them study. There had been another student, too, with memory absolutely perfect. Her name had been Winter. She was still alive, somewhere, and probably with a mutual friend, Princess Leia Organa. If what she had heard was true, they were a part of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The three had become friends at a ball at the Royal Palace of Aldera two years before, to which Bail Organa, now also dead, had invited Iaana and her father.

_Leia . . ._ In her dreaming state, Iaana wondered what her old friend was doing. Was she talking with friends? Despite the war, was she having a good time? Was she in an important meeting?

Little did Iaana know, she was anything _but_.

...

Leia sat on the soft seat, one hand on her chin as she leaned forward on her thigh, idly rereading her notes on her green data pad., the gentle hum of the ship from this area deepening her thoughts. The Rebel Leaders had all agreed on Mon Mothma's suggestion; more alliances must be formed. Not only that, but how long could they continue to keep their base an entirely mobile fleet? Their people needed a planet, even if for a few days here and there, to return to. They also needed reinforcements. Great pilots had been lost in the Death Star attack, and though they could never be replaced, the Rebellion needed more.

It was with the severity of their situation in mind that Leia gladly took the assignment. It was a unanimous vote among her peers; with her diplomatic experience, vigor, and aura, Leia was perfect to serve as an emissary. Words scrolled over her data pad concerning her destination. She had read these same words numerous times over the past eight hours, but what else was she to do to pass the time?

**Zygoth:****  
Terrain: Hills, valleys, and mountains dominate the landscape  
Climate: Freezing winters, hot and humid summers, thick mists and thunderstorms  
Vegetation: Thick, jungle-like forests  
Inhabitants: Humanoid with wings, great pilots...**

Suddenly the ship lurched, the tell-tale sign of pulling out of hyperspace. Leia looked up, dropping her hand to her lap, and sat up straight. Glancing at her chronometer she frowned. "We aren't due out of hyperspace for another two standard hours. What's he trying to pull?"

Placing her data pad in a side pocket of her blue and brown dress suit, a cross between a loose garment and flightsuit, Leia rose and exited the lounge area, making her way with determined steps to the cockpit.

Leia found herself staring at the backs of the two pilots as she arrived. Looking ahead, her brown eyes scanned the_ Millennium Falcon_'s viewports. There was a planet in the distance, but it definitely didn't match the description of Zygoth, unless the whole planet was in winter. Her brow furrowed as she leaned on the back of a third seat.

"And what, precisely, do you think you are doing? This is _not_ our destination." Leia's voice was stern, more frustrated than anything, as she addressed the back of the pilot's head.

"Calm down, your worship," Han Solo muttered as he frantically checked the navicomputer. He really needed to fix this thing. Slow as a Hutt on a cold day.

The frozen planet hung before him like a giant pearl. Beside him, Chewbacca roared the answer he had been awaiting. "The Hoth system," he said aloud. "But the real question is why we're here."Another growl from Chewbacca raised the hairs on the back of Han's neck. Han jumped from his seat. He had to get back to the hyperdrive motivator and see what he could do. Passing by Leia as he went, he pointed out the viewport. "That, princess, is the problem."

His words hung in the air as Chewbacca padded behind him.

Leia frowned and turned her eyes back to the view port, taking in the sight of the hanging blue-white planet. "I'm not your worship," she grumbled to the empty cockpit as she moved to sit down in Han's now vacant seat. "I don't see how this giant ball of ice is the problem. It's this bucket of bolts I'm traveling on." Her words dripped with frustration as Leia leaned forward in her seat over the control panel. "Where are we anyway?" She read over the readout on the navicomputer, furrowing her brow at the words as they confirmed what Han had said. "The Hoth system? Is there anything even alive out here?" Leia was ready to voice more of her opinions to the empty chair beside her when the Falcon's warning sensors flashed and shrieked wildly. Leia bolted upright, quickly scanning the control panel for the source. A ship had come out of hyperspace less than a meter overhead at the same time as them, automatically flying away. It was already two hundred meters away. _Shows what a trash heap this thing is,_ she mused bitterly. Turning her brown eyes to the viewport again, Leia watched as a pirate gunship came into view. Switching on the Falcon's internal comm system Leia alerted Han and Chewbacca. "Han, we've got company. It's about the size of a small freighter. Looks like a large pirate starfighter."

...

The chopped-off barrel of the weapon pointed at her was the only thing she was aware of until the armored man holding it spoke. "Identify yourself," he ordered.

The girl stared, wide-eyed, at him, feeling very small in the pilot's seat as she did so. He gazed back, that invisible gaze burning into her. Slowly, though not quite reluctantly, the barrel dropped to point at the deck. "That better?" he asked, his voice still as unemotional as ever, though it seemed gentler somehow. She shrank back even more, but nodded hesitantly. "Iaana," she mumbled.

"Morranne of Alderaan," the man said. It wasn't a question, so Iaana didn't bother to acknowledge it. He stepped back, nodding. "You're free to go."

Iaana stared up at him, rather confused. First this guy catches her in a tractor beam, then says she can go? Who was this guy?

It was clear he saw her confusion, for he stepped forward and leaned past the girl, keying something into the navicomputer. She spared a glance at it, and saw that he had plotted a course for Alderaan. "Huh?"

The man shook his head. "You're free to go," he repeated. "Just as soon as I disconnect my ship from yours. Take it easy out there," he added, almost as an afterthought. He stepped back out of the cockpit, footsteps sounded throughout the ship, a minute passed . . . The next thing Iaana knew was that the man's odd ship was shooting away, disappearing into hyperspace.

Faintly, Iaana remembered that the pirates who had kidnaped her might be pursuing her. Her board pinged, signaling that the course was set and ready. Without a second thought, she grabbed the hyperdrive levers and pushed them forward. There was a slight lurch, the stars flared into lines, then became mottled sky. And with an even greater lurch . . .

She woke up. It was a bit disorienting at first, waking up from a dream that was actually a memory. Especially since it didn't finish. She wondered what had awakened her, remembered the pinging sound in her dream, and knew that it had coincidently synchronized itself with the soft chime alerting the nearness of her destination. She rolled out of bed, groaning slightly at the headache that had come upon her. It had been two weeks since she had returned to Alderaan and discovered that it had been destroyed. _How?!_ That thought coursed through her mind every minute, but she knew that she wouldn't get an answer to any of her questions until she met up with the Rebellion. Problem was, she had no idea how to find them. She just hoped that her search would end soon.

Reaching over, she pulled the hyperdrive levers back. The mottled sky turned into star-lines, the star-lines faded into stars . . . And in the distance, she saw her destination planet. And with a cry of alarm that came at the same time as the sensors' alert, she saw the Corellian freighter off her starboard bow. Keying on the shields, she pulled back on the controls, sending her captured pirate gunship up and away from the freighter. Her senses kicked in a moment later, and she throttled back. The name on the display . . .

Now, where had she heard the name _Millennium Falcon_ before, she thought belatedly.

...

"Hold on, R2!" Luke replied, a bit flustered, to the quickly jabbering astromech droid as he climbed the temporary stairs into his X-wing. Sitting down into the semi-comfortable seat, he focused his ice-blue eyes on the display monitor. "Alright, try again." Luke watched as green words appeared on the screen as Artoo rattled off a series of beeps and whistles.

"Yes, Han and Leia left yesterday with Threepio. No, they didn't tell me they were heading out on a mission, either, though they apparently left a message for me with Wedge, asking me to follow. And yes, we are going after them." Luke placed his white helmet on his head, complete with the red Alliance symbol, shoving it down over his sandy-blonde hair. Pushing a few buttons on the console, he fired up the engines, readying his X-wing. "Not that I don't trust Han, it's just . . . I'd feel better about this whole thing if I were with them right now." Luke ignored Artoo's next message, already figuring by his sound that it was a droid version of sarcasm. He already knew from Wedge that they were headed to Zygoth, in an attempt to recruit new pilots, and that he was to let Leia do all the diplomacy and talking. He was just fine with that. He never did have the knack the Princess did with turning groups into allies. Really, he was just going along because he was a symbol, having destroyed the Death Star, and symbols were important to the Alliance. _Not that a little extra protection wouldn't be nice,_ he mused with a smile. The three on the _Falcon_ were very capable of defending themselves, but another blaster - and a lightsaber, no less - couldn't hurt, and sometimes Han's way of doing things was, well, reckless. Chewie was a whole lot smarter, and often talked sense into his friend, but there were times when Han was a little _too_ stubborn.

Oh, well. Han was a smuggler, and had kept himself and his pal alive with his often unorthodox plans. _Couldn't hurt to have another person there, though,_ he thought again, keying the comm. "This is Commander Skywalker, requesting clearance to depart."

The answer came quickly. "You're clear to launch, Commander. May the Force be with you on your mission."

"And with you," Luke answered, smiling. The temporary silver stairs were removed from the side of his X-wing and Luke pulled up his landing gear as he swivelled the nose of his fighter to point toward open space. Skillfully, he eased the X-wing out of the hanger bay and into the blackness the Rebel fleet was conjugated in. The sight impressed him, sometimes, to see all those ships in one place. Having been raised on a farm by his father's step-brother and sister-in-law, he had never gotten out in the galaxy, and thus had not seen fleets in person at all.

"Ready, Artoo?" Luke asked, getting an affirmative_ bleep-bloop_ in reply. Punching in the coordinates, Luke placed his hand on the hyperdrive controls. Taking a deep breath he murmured, "Here we go," and pushed the lever forward, feeling the lurch into hyperspace as the stars streaked in silver forms around him.

...

Iaana racked her brain trying to remember who the _Falcon_ was connected with. Some hotshot smuggler - ex-Imperial pilot - and his Wookiee copilot. By no means had she really been in touch with the galaxy's news, but she _had_ heard that the smugglers had a crucial part in destroying Alderaan's destructors. Iaana remembered Princess Leia Organa from Alderaan. She had gone to school with the princess and her friend, Winter. They hadn't gotten to know each other very well until two years ago, but they did know who the other was, and were always happy to see each other. The _Falcon_ was also connected with the Princess, nowadays, but the question was if she was there now. The reason Iaana had come to Hoth was because she had heard the Rebels had a thing for remote places to set up their bases, and figured that this was as good a try as any. She hadn't figured that she would actually succeed this time around.

_Han Solo, Chewbacca, Winter, and Princess Leia Organa . . ._ Iaana scrambled to find the comm. She hoped she could find it and contact the freighter before she was fatally mistaken for a pirate . . .

...

"Chewie, get to the guns, quick," Leia continued over the comm, "I think we might be in trouble. Han!! What are you doing? Hurry, I can't fly this thing!" Behind her, Leia heard a long growl from Chewbacca, followed by the shuffling of metallic feet. _Not now._

"If I might suggest," came the accented voice of C-3PO from behind, "perhaps you might contact the vessel first."

"Right," Leia responded sarcastically, "let's negotiate with the pirates."

"Princess Leia, if you will recall, the pirate could have already opened fire on the _Millennium Falcon_. Since he has not, it would suggest other intent."

Leia thought about this for a moment. The logic of the droid seemed good enough. Maybe they could sacrifice a couple of seconds to open a channel. "Chewie, are you ready?" An affirmative sounded through the cockpit. "Hold fire unless they shoot first."

Leia quickly switched the comm over to a frequency the pirate vessel would receive. What was she to say? _Don't fire at us please; I don't know how to put the shields up and my pilot is slower than an overweight Hutt? I hardly think so._ She thought fast and came up with something.  
"Pirate Vessel. Make one offensive move, and we'll blow your ship out of the galaxy. We don't want to exchange fire anymore than you do, so if you will go about your business and leave us to ours we'll both live to see another day." Leia cringed. She thought she sounded like an idiot! This was not a typical negotiation of the Alderaan Princess and she highly doubted her idle threats would sway the pirate. Maybe she had bought Han and Chewbacca some time. She could only hope.

...

Iaana heard the message, and felt relief rush through her at the sound of the Princess's voice. _Oh, you got that right . . ._ "Where's the blasted comm system?" Iaana growled in frustration. She sighed in relief. There it was. Now, where was that transmit button?

She found it, then punched it down with her index and middle fingers. "_Millennium Falcon_, this is Iaana Morranne of Alderaan. Please do not - repeat, _do not_ - open fire. I don't know how to operate this craft very well, and I am not a pirate. How I came to be in possession of this ship is a long story, one I hope I will be able to tell you later. And, if I may say, you don't know how relieved I am to find you, after searching for representatives of the Rebel Alliance since my homeworld was destroyed by the Empire. And it's good to hear your voice again, Princess, and to know you're alive." She released the button, quivering with relief. Moments before the message had come through, the sensors had picked up on the freighter's weapons powering up. Shards of Alderaan . . . Good thing the Princess had decided to ask first, shoot later.

Though, hopefully, they wouldn't be shooting . . .

...

Han stepped back into the cockpit of the Falcon to hear the last words of Leia's conversation.

He wasn't sure he bought this Iaana's story, but not just anyone wandered around with a craft that size equipped with a gravity-well projector. Anything that could tear a ship from it's hyperspace route was trouble, plain and simple.

"So, worship, mind telling me what this girl is doing in the middle of nowhere with a gravity-well projector? An operational one at that." Poking his head out of the cockpit, he yelled to his companion. "Chewie, keep the guns locked on to her, you hear me?"

...

Iaana could hardly stand the minute she waited for a reply. In that time, she was keenly aware of the _Falcon_'s weapons still trained on her. Her ship moved forward from momentum, but she had cut her thrusters as soon as she had realized what ship it was that she had come out of hyperspace on top of. Though, as she thought about it, she remembered that the Corellian freighter had been slowing down at the same time. How was it that they had come out of hyperspace at the same moment?

_Oh, snap._ A bright red alarm light began flashing, accompanied by an obnoxious blaring klaxon. "I fixed that thing yesterday!" she shouted at the ship. Iaana groaned. "Oh. It's a _different_ one." She looked up. "Yeah, like that makes all the difference. Go ahead and blare, you stupid alarm! Meanwhile, I'm sitting here, hoping I'm not going to get blasted up, and my port engine decides to _fail_. And it's not even activated! How stupid is this?!" Her hands flew over the controls as she spoke, trying to check out all of what was wrong.

The ship shook as the port engine blew apart in a small explosion. "No, no, NO!" Iaana jumped up. "Stupid ship!" she shouted again. "I thought the Blackstars took better care of you!" She grabbed the portable comlink and shoved it into a pocket, then rushed back to the engine room. When she reached it, she nearly choked on the smoke. Grabbing a breath mask, she put it on, then started forward. The door behind her remained open, and that was what saved her when another explosion occurred. The blast propelled her through the opening, which closed, cutting off the fireball. Iaana blacked out, barely managing to dig her comlink out and whisper into it one word before the darkness consumed her.

"Help."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Chewie's roar reached Han's ears the instant he saw one of the engines on the ship explode. _Should I do something?_ It was hard to ignore the tingling feeling at the back of his neck. "Chewie, I'm going to dock with her. You get ready to pull her out, but take your bowcaster. I'm still not sure I trust this girl."

Taking his seat, Han began to move the Falcon closer to the strange vessel. _I've got a bad feeling about this._

...

Images and memories swam through Iaana's unconscious mind with the perfect clarity her holographic memory gave her as she lay on the deck of the gunship, a fire burning in just the next room. Then the fire cut out by means of the hole where the engine used to be, but the door had been damaged in the explosion, so the atmosphere was leaking out. Fortunately, her breath mask had remained intact and on her face throughout the explosion, so she had a few more minutes to live. Groaning, she fell deeper into the blackness of unconsciousness.

_"I'm warning you,"_ the armored man said over the comm in her memories. _"Give me the datacards, or suffer the consequences."_

_Lex Parilstoe, the leader of the Blackstar Pirates, scowled. "You think I'm intimidated by that threat? I'm not handing them over. Come and take them, if you can."_

_The armored man nodded curtly. "You were warned."_

_Parilstoe's second-in-command, Aril Tariffe, stared at him. "With respect, sir, are you crazy? You know what he can do!"_

_"I also know he doesn't harm the innocent." He gestured to the girl a little ways away, tied to a chair, blindfolded and gagged. "Once he finds out she's here, he won't be able to shoot just anywhere. He'll have to be precise. That'll give us a chance."_

_"Not much, sir. He's always precise. It won't make a difference. Couldn't we have just tried to sell them to him?"_

_"I already tried. Wouldn't accept my price. Wanted them for free. I refused."_

_Tariffe swallowed hard. "Yes, sir. Shall I take Morranne to her holding cell?"_

_"No, leave her here in the control room." He lowered his voice. "Toss me one of the datacards, though."_

_Tariffe obeyed, and Parilstoe caught it easily. Walking over to the girl, he grinned at her._ _"Here's a food bar for later, kid. Don't forget it," he finished, tucking the datacard in her pocket. The girl shrank back, terrified, and would definitely become even more so when the shooting started._

_A klaxon started blaring, and Tariffe rushed to a console as the other pirates scrambled for their weapons. "Intruder alert in Section 2, Subsection C." All the blood drained from his face. "He's here."  
__"That fast?" Parilstoe whirled toward his station, then turned a key, starting a second alert going. "Battle stations!"_

_Tariffe ran from the room, going to who-knew-where. Blaster fire sounded off in the distance, and the girl became stock-still. Parilstoe cut the ropes tying her to the chair, though, and hauled her to her feet, her hands still bound behind her back. "Come on, kid," he growled. "You're going to be my shield."_

_Iaana Morranne struggled, but to no avail. She became still again as a blaster pistol's barrel lightly touched her right temple, and listened to the approaching blaster fire. Tariffe came rushing in a moment later, looking as if he'd seen a ghost as he ran for the door leading to the auxiliary hangar bay. "Tariffe!" Parilstoe barked. "Get back here!"_

_Tariffe stopped and stared at the other. "I'm sounding the evacuation," he gasped. "We tried to stop him. He got through the outer defenses. The inner defenses. The backup defenses! Everyone who opposed him in that section is dead. They attacked, he responded. He's unstoppable! I advise you to get out of here, too, sir, before he gets you as well."_

_Parilstoe snarled. "Run, you coward." With his gun hand, he reached over to his board and keyed the intercom. "This is Captain Parilstoe speaking. Any who wish to leave may do so. That is all."_

_Half of the pirates in the control room sprinted for the door, quickly followed by Aril Tariffe. Moments later, half of those remaining began firing toward the door as blaster fire came through it. Two fell, and the rest bolted. When they were gone, the armored man came into the room, his blaster rifle aimed at the two remaining people there. He instantly stiffened as he saw the girl held hostage by the pirate captain. She stood still in terror as the arm tightened slightly around her neck and the blaster pressed harder against her skull. "You shoot, the girl's dead," Parilstoe growled._

_The armored man remained where he was. "Where are the datacards?"_

_Parilstoe nodded to a desk drawer. "In there. Five of the six."_

_"Where's the other?"_

_"I have it, but you're not getting it. To get it, you'll have to shoot me. To shoot me, you have to shoot the girl."_

_The armored man moved carefully to the desk, then took from it the five datacards and placed them in a small pouch on his belt. For a moment, Iaana could feel that her captor was distracted, and shoved backwards. Parilstoe stumbled, his hold loosening. The girl tumbled to the side, and rolled under a desk. There was a knife there, dropped by one of the pirates. With it, she managed to cut her bonds. When she cut her gag and blindfold off, she stared at the pirate and the armored man. Parilstoe shot at the other, looking afraid in spite of his tough-guy behavior. Iaana didn't wait to see how it played out, and sprinted for the nearest exit. A final blaster shot sounded, and Parilstoe's breathing fell silent._

_She ran. Behind her, in the room, the armored man quickly searched Parilstoe's body and found a datacard and - a ring? Curious, but deciding it could wait until later, he followed the girl, just to make sure she could get home safely . . ._

...

_That voice . . ._ Leia paused, her right hand hovering over the comm button to return a transmission. _Iaana? No. Can't be . . ._ Leia was frozen, her brown eyes focused on the image of the ship she was communicating with.

_A door hissed open and Leia Organa stepped through, her white robe slightly dirty yet still elegant. She was flanked by two guards and followed closely by the tall dark figure, Lord Vader. Her face was set hard and determined. Her eyes found a certain figure in the room._

_"Governor Tarkin. I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I thought I recognized your foul stench the moment I was brought on board." Her face echoed the sarcasm in her voice._

_"Charming to the last," Tarkin returned, just as sarcastic. "You don't know how hard I found it to sign the order for your termination."_

_"I'm surprised you had the courage to issue the order yourself," Leia replied, holding firm._

_"Before your execution, I would like for you to be my guest at a small ceremony. Had you cooperated in our investigation, things might be otherwise." Leia frowned. Investigation? He means torture. Tarkin continued. "This ceremony will certify this battle station's operational status while ushering in a new era of Imperial technical supremacy. Your petty Alliance will no longer be of any concern to us. After today's demonstration, no one will dare oppose the Emperor, not even the Senate."_

_Leia was confident in the Rebellion. Nothing would stop what had been placed into motion, even if she were to die. "Force has never been a good ruler, Governor. The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers. You are a fool. Fool's often die by their own hand."_

_Tarkin smiled a sinister grin. "Not after we demonstrate the power of this station. In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that is to be destroyed first. Since you are reluctant to provide us with the location of the Rebel base, I have chosen to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Alderaan."_

_For the first time, Leia was aware of what room she stood in. The main operational deck, looking out on her home planet. "No! Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons. You can't possibly-"_

_"You would prefer another target, a military target? Then, name the system!" He stepped forward, causing the small woman to back up against Vader's tall, still form. "I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time. Where is the Rebel base?"_

_Leia breathed heavily, clearly torn in her decision. Finally, staring at the deck, she whispered, "Dantooine. They're on Dantooine."_

_"There. See, Lord Vader? She can be reasonable." He then directed his attention to other officers. "After concluding our test here, we shall continue with haste to Dantooine. You may proceed with the operation. Gentleman?"_

_"WHAT?!" Leia shouted in distress, her voice edged with horror._

_"You're far too trusting. Dantooine is too remote to make an effective demonstration. But don't worry. We will deal with your Rebel friends soon enough."_

_"No!!" Leia started forward, but was stopped by Vader's hand pulling her back. She watched in horror as a giant green-white beam of light raced toward her home planet. For a second, the blue and green world looks as if it is absorbing the energy, then suddenly it exploded into a huge ball of dust and debris. Leia let out a small whimper. All the innocent people, the art, the monuments, her family. Lost . . ._

Leia subconsciously heard Han enter the cockpit. Her face was pale and drained as the memory flooded her of the destruction of Alderaan. It wasn't until Han gave the order to Chewbacca that she responded. "No! Iaana is from Alderaan. I know her. Do not fire on her." Her voice was a little stressed. Leia wasn't about to lose another person from Alderaan. She fumbled around to reply to Iaana, her hand now shaking. Suddenly part of the pirate ship exploded in the view port and a small voice asked for help."Han, we have to help her." Leia was glad to see he was already piloting the _Falcon_ closer to the ship. Pressing the comm, Leia replied to Iaana. "Hang in there, Iaana. We're coming to help. Iaana?" There was no reply. Leia turned to Han, her expression worried. "How long until we can dock?" She paused. "What do you think happened to her ship? I hope she's alright . . ." Leia had it in her right mind to be the first one to clamber over to the injured vessel.

...

_Iaana ran, her mind barely registering the destruction that lay in her path. She didn't care, anyway. All she wanted was to get away, and she would find a way out somehow._

_A few minutes of flat-out sprinting with adrenaline coursing through her veins finally brought her to a hangar bay. Off to the side was obviously the armored man's ship - a sleek, elongated craft called a Firespray. She ignored that one, but ran on to the first craft she got to. It was a gunship, a large cross between a freighter and a fighter but with some weird sort of bubbling on the hull on the rear left, near the port engine, which would weeks later, over Hoth, turn out to be a gravity-well generator that turned on with even the slightest accidental bump of a button._

_She climbed inside, telling herself she would check the engines later for booby traps, but she never did get around to that. But never mind that, she reminded herself. She had to get out of here._

_She started the pre-flight, finished it, then activated the repulsors. The bay doors hung open, probably blasted by the armored man who was just now coming into the bay. Too scared to think clearly, Iaana moved the ship forward, and it shot into the night sky. One kilometer above the surface of the planet or moon or whatever it was, she made the transition to sublight engines and rocketed away toward space. Moments later, sensors indicated a ship was in pursuit. Two minutes later, she was locked in a tractor beam and docking with the armored man's ship._

The dream she had aboard the gunship shortly before she arrived at Hoth played itself out again, and then her mind skipped to other memories. Even as the_Falcon_ got closer and Chewbacca readied himself to go onto the gunship with the pirate booby trapped engine, Iaana slipped even deeper into unconsciousness. Her breathing came shallow but even, helped along by the small flow of oxygen from her breath mask. And in her sleep, she muttered to herself. "Perfect memory . . . forgot food bar . . ." as well as other things that might confuse someone who didn't know her or what she had gone through. She might have heard Leia's voice talking to her, but she was unable to respond. And a few thousand light-years away, Aril Tariffe sat in a cantina, not knowing he was about to be questioned by the foremost bounty hunter in the galaxy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The pirate stared down at his mug of ale, sipping from it every now and then. The man sitting across from him looked smug about the guy's position, and shook his head. "Didn't think you would ever run from a fight, Tariffe."

Tariffe glanced up blankly, then looked back down at his drink. "Wasn't a fight," he muttered.

"Sure it was. One guy. One guy, and the Blackstar Pirates fall to shambles. Okay, so it wasn't a fight. Because you didn't resist."

Tariffe looked up again. "We resisted," he said. "But it wasn't a fight. It was a massacre. You would've run, too."

"No, not me. I would have stayed and fought, and I would've won."

"You would have died. You hold a high opinion of yourself to think you can beat Boba Fett."

The other had just been taking a sip of his own ale, and nearly choked on the bit of liquid in his mouth. Coughing, he shook his head. "What was that?"

"Boba Fett. Parilstoe made the mistake of withholding something from Fett and dared him to attack. He did. Some of us tried to fight back, but he was unstoppable. I ran back to the control room, where Parilstoe was using some girl we kidnapped as a shield for when Fett got there. He told everyone that if they wanted to leave, they could. Half of those in the control room stayed, the survivors said, and half of those shot at Fett. But when two of 'em fell, everyone bolted. Parilstoe's dead, girl's gone somewhere." He took a long swig of his ale, draining it and setting the mug on the table. "An' I'm here, talkin' t' you."

The man across from him, who was no one in particular besides an associate of Tariffe, lifted his glass in a toast. "To long life, then," he said, "and keeping out of trouble with the bounty hunter." He drained his drink, then nodded. "See you later, Tariffe. Remember to limit yourself."

Tariffe nodded glumly, nudging his glass around idly. "See ya," he muttered. A minute later, someone else sat down across from him. Tariffe glanced up, but only looked bored. "So, y' gonna kill me for gettin' away?"

Boba Fett shook his head slightly. "The datacards," he said. "Five were in a drawer. Where was the sixth?"

Tariffe lifted his mug and peered into it, forgetting for a moment that he had drunk all the ale in it. "Parilstoe put it in one of th' girl's pockets, tellin' her it was a food bar. Dunno if she's found out what it really was since then."

"Where is she?"

Tariffe set his mug back down, then picked it up again a few moments later and once more peered into it. Fett took the mug away from the drunk man, and Tariffe grabbed for it after a second or two. "Dunno," he finally said once he had reclaimed his empty mug. "Prob'ly lookin' for th' Rebels. That's prob'ly what I would do if my homeworld 'ad been d'stroyed by th' Imperials. U'less you 'aven't 'eard of th' d'struction of Ald'raan." He turned his mug upside down and tapped the bottom. Shaking his head to clear the fogginess, he finally put together some clear words and set the mug down. "Port engine of her gunship should be blowin' by now. Parilstoe had all the gunships' gravity well generators booby trapped. If someone activated them or somethin' without entering the proper code, the port engine would blow, the gravity well generator along with it. But," he added, pulling a small, box-like instrument from his pocket, "it's got a trackin' d'vice, set t' this frequency." He began slipping back into his drunken speech, and shook his head again.

Fett took the device and looked at it, nodding. "One more thing. Why did you kidnap Iaana Morranne?"

"Empire paid us to do it. Somethin' about Alex Morranne's merchant business. Was just gonna be for a short time, I thought. Kidnap the girl, hold her for ransom, then return her. But Parilstoe apparently received further instructions that said the Empire didn't care if we returned the girl or not. Dunno what Parilstoe was gonna do before he got word from you that you wanted the datacards." He nudged his upside-down glass around again. "Kid's father was on Alderaan when it blew. She's the only one left of her family. Nearly perfect memory, too. Excellent mechanic. Pretty good pilot. One thing's for sure, she would help out the Alliance a whole lot if and when she joins them. She went to school with Princess Leia Organa, too. Friends, but they didn't talk a whole lot. Now, the Princess is one of the only Alderaanian friends she has left, besides the kid's fiancé, and I dunno if he was on Alderaan when it blew." He tipped the mug over, staring glumly at it. "Anythin' else?"

"No. Go to wherever you're staying and get some sleep. Don't touch another ale for a while until you're sober. I'll find you if I need any more information."

Tariffe watched the bounty hunter leave, then grabbed his mug and walked to the bar. He payed his tab, then left. He was going to take a _big_, long nap.

...

Fett sat in his cockpit, just now finished plugging in the tracking receiver given to him by Aril Tariffe. As he activated it, a burst of information scrawled across his screen. Reading it, he frowned. What was the kid doing in the Hoth system? Would she be there by the time he arrived?

Probably, he reflected. Tariffe had said the gunship's left engine and gravity-well generator would be blowing up by now. Parilstoe equipped that feature on all the gunships - even his personal gunship, the _Black Dwarf_.

The flagship of his armada was the _Black Star_, for which his pirate group was named. His personal gunship, now in possession of Iaana Morranne, followed the same naming pattern. Black, followed by the name of a type of star. Fortunately, it would never live up to its name unless it exploded completely, and the largest explosion it was bound to suffer in the near future was the engine and the gravity well generator. _Though that may be enough._ Fett finished the pre-flight and rocketed away from the landing pad on Bespin. He could make it in a few short hours, but the question was if Iaana had been anywhere near the blast when it happened. If she had . . .

_There's no point in thinking about that,_ he told himself. _There's nothing I can do until I get there._ Except maybe get there faster. Pushing his throttle to the max, he escaped Bespin's gravity well and made the jump to lightspeed after rapidly plotting his course. _Four hours. Four or five hours until I complete this assignment._

_Maybe._

...

_"Dad! Dad, where are you?"_

_Alex Morranne's voice came from down the hall. "In here, Iaana," he answered, sounding slightly stressed. Iaana poked her head in, smiling. "You okay?"_

_"Yeah, honey, I'm fine." He set his datapad on his desk and pushed it away from him. "Empire's putting a lot of pressure on me about my trading business."_

_"What do they want you to do?"_

_"Ship something for them and pay taxes for it, but the simple truth is, all my ships are booked for the next two months. I tried telling them that, but they wouldn't listen. They just today backed off, but did say I would regret it."_

_"What do you think they'll do?"_

_"Probably only make me pay higher taxes. Don't worry, I can cover it."_

_"This is the Empire we're talking about. You don't think they'll . . . do anything, do you?"_

_Alex Morranne smiled at his daughter. "I doubt they'd do anything too bold. There's the Rebellion out there, and it would certainly bolster the Rebels' cause if the Imps hurt anyone because I couldn't ship something for them."_

_Iaana nodded. "Okay. Well, I was going to go out for a while. I'll be back by nine."_

_Alex smiled, gazing questioningly at the girl. "'Out'?"_

_"You remember: talking with the art teacher about coming classes this school year at the University of Aldera. Then it's planning time with the mechanics teacher, then history. After that, Jaren was going to take me shopping for a dress for that upcoming party at the palace."_

_"I thought you already had a few dresses."_

_"Yes, but this place donates a large percentage of the money gained to the Caamasi and those impoverished. I asked around a few months ago, and people have confirmed it. Anyway, after I find a dress, we were going to go out to eat at that new place."_

_"Ah, yes. And how are you and Jaren getting along?"_

_Iaana blushed. "Daddy, I've known him for five years now, and we started going out a year ago. We're close."_

_"I know that. Just how close are you?" He grinned knowingly, and Iaana thought she detected a secretive twinkle in his eyes._

_Iaana stuck her tongue out at him. "_Very_ close." Walking over, she gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Bye, Dad. I'll see you tonight."_

_"Bye, honey. Don't stay out too late."_

_"I won't. Love you!"_

_"Love you, Iaana."_

_Iaana left, not knowing that was the last time she would ever speak to her father. The meetings with the teachers went well, and she found a not-too-expensive but beautiful dress at the store with Jaren Key, her boyfriend of two years. They went to the new restaurant, which was really very good. There, Jaren proposed. Surprised, but extremely happy, Iaana accepted his hand in marriage. An hour later, Iaana was kidnapped by the Blackstars. Days later, after her escape, Iaana returned to her homeworld and bore witness to the debris with a hollow and stunned horror. It was quite a few minutes until she moved or made a sound, and that was to sob harder than she ever had before. Gone . . . All gone . . . Her mother's grave . . . all her relatives . . . her friends . . . her father . . . Jaren, her fiancé . . ._

_Everyone._

_Later, she would find out that there were a few hundred Alderaanians left, those who had been off-world at the time of their planet's destruction, including Princess Leia and Winter. The moment she found out that it had been the Empire who had destroyed Alderaan, she vowed to do whatever she could to oppose them. And so she set out to find the Rebellion._

_The pain still wouldn't go away, though. It never would._

_Glancing one more time at Alderaan, she wiped the tears away and began setting a course. _Never . . .

Aboard the _Black Dwarf_, Iaana coughed and rolled onto her side a bit, but still came no closer to waking up. The ship shuddered slightly as the two ships docked, and footsteps sounded through the few, small corridors.

But she still wouldn't wake up.

...

_Come on, come on, come on_. The _Millennium Falcon_ just wasn't moving fast enough. Leia watched Han work frivolously over the controls, gliding his prized ship closer and closer to the _Black Dwarf_. She knew he was an excellent pilot; he had proved this many times since her rescue from the Death Star and during the Battle of Yavin. Still, she couldn't help but feel he could somehow do something more. What that was, she had no idea. Perhaps it was the way he spoke to her, a semi-condescending praise, that irked her so. Still, she could hold her own with a blaster and that was comforting. She didn't need anyone waiting on her hand and foot, even if they were sarcastic gestures.

The _Falcon_ shuddered slightly and a muffled thump could be heard from the port side. _Success._ Wasting no time, Leia quickly rose from the cockpit chair and headed down the main corridor. She didn't pause to tell Chewbacca he could come out of the guns' access tube, instead she continued walking past to the port side docking area. Grabbing a Roamer-6 Breath Mask, Leia placed the mask over her nose and mouth and hooked the filter can to her belt as she pressed the unlock button for the docking door. Luckily, the _Black Dwarf_'s door was just as easy to enter as the _Falcon_'s was to exit. Leia found herself inside a strange ship and took a moment looking left and right to get her bearings. She could hear hissing and smell, faintly, for the breath mask was filtering it out, smoke. _The engines!_ Leia raced down the pirate vessel's main corridor and found her way to the engine room. But the door was shut and there lay a motionless figure Leia recognized from her palace days woven with days of intellectual training.

_The dresses swayed across the sparkling floor of the Aldera Royal Palace. Leia stood on a balcony over-looking the ball, feeling uncomfortable in her silver gown and "ear-muffs." She had argued with her nanny, Madam Vesta, for an hour on the negative aspects of the current hair style, but she would hear none of it. Leia's eyes drifted over the many gathered here this evening and found a young lady with long, white hair, not too unlike Winter's._

_"Winter, do I know her?" Leia pointed a long finger across the dance floor._

_"But of course, Leia. She sat next to you in the University last semester for art. Her name is Iaana. She was rather quiet, which might explain why you don't remember her, but I'd blame it on your mind being elsewhere." Winter flashed a knowing smile. "Your father invited Iaana and her father tonight; he is a promising merchant."_

Iaana. _Leia knew she could count on Winter's amazing memory to fill in the gaps she might have missed before she began to take them more seriously. "I think I will introduce myself to her, Winter. To make up for not paying attention any sooner."_

She had been sixteen. Strange, how far things had come since then.

Leia fell to her knees next to the girl with white hair. "Iaana," she said, lightly shaking her friend's shoulder, "dear, wake up." Not entirely sure what was wrong, Leia probed Iaana's breath mask filter. It seemed to be working properly. The ship seemed to be leaking. Yes, that was it, the atmosphere was leaking. Leia had to get her friend over to the _Millennium Falcon_, quick. She tried to kneel and hook her arms under Iaana's to drag her to the docking doors, but she was going to need some help.

...

Han Solo had never taken a thing sitting down in his entire life, and he wasn't about to start now. It was dangerous leaving the _Falcon_ unattended, but he would never forgive himself if something happened to Leia. One last glance at the controls to make sure everything was okay, and another sensor sweep of the area to be sure there would be no uninvited guests, and he was out of the cockpit, blaster drawn. A few moments later, Han cautiously entered the other ship, mask pressed against his face. Right away he noticed that there was a leak of some sort in the ship. The atmosphere was escaping at an increasing rate. No one would survive in here for much longer. He pressed on deeper into the ship. "Chewie, where are you?"

An informative growl answered him. "Chewie, check out the gravity well projector. I want to see what in the worlds she's doing with one. And why she-" Mid-sentence, he turned a corner and saw Leia over who he assumed was Iaana. She was just a girl really, couldn't be more than eighteen. Her long, white hair surprisingly only made her look younger.

Han holstered his blaster. He severely doubted that she was much of a threat to any one of them.

...

Iaana heard a voice from the past, felt herself being lifted slightly. Then she was set back on the deck, her rescuer not being strong enough to carry her. More footsteps, and more distant voices: a man and a Wookiee. The man inquired about a gravity well projector, and stopped in mid-sentence very close by. She wanted to answer, to make some sign that she could hear them, but she could not. The darkness pressed closer and closer, and the voices began to fade away. She wanted to squeeze the hand that sought to wake her. To ask questions. Who was the armored man? Was the food bar really that? And was it still in her pocket? What had been on the datacards that the armored man had been looking for? What had caused the ship's port engine and gravity well projector to blow? Was it of Parilstoe's doing? And, the one she most wanted to know, was Jaren Key, her fiancé, dead or alive?

Her confusing mutters had quieted a few seconds before the ships had docked with each other. She knew that they were all in danger. The ship was leaking through the damaged door and the hole where the port engine used to be, and her rescuers would either have to get her out of there fast or leave her behind. If it was who she thought it was, however, she knew they were going to try for the former.

She groaned slightly, the only sign of life from her besides breathing. It was the only sound she could make, especially since the darkness had overcome her again. The voices once again sounded in the far distance, and the questions continued to swirl in her unconscious mind. And so the confusing muttering began again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Shaking his head to clear it, Han reached down, sliding his hands under the girl, and raised her to chest level. She was strikingly light. Looking down at Leia, he jerked his head in the direction of the exit. "C'mon Princess, let's get out of here."

...

Inwardly grumbling, Leia was getting ready to heave Iaana up again. Strange. The Alderaan Princess thought she was stronger than this. It must have been the awkward dead weight. Bracing herself to lift again, Leia was surprised to find Iaana being hoisted by someone else. She gazed up, finding Han with his breath mask in place. Nodding at his words, Leia pushed up from the durasteel floor and made to follow him. "Thank you . . . Han." She was sincerely appreciative of his help, knowing full well that he scarcely did anything out of the "kindness of his heart."

She followed Han back to the _Falcon_ and into the lounge area where Iaana could be laid on the single resting platform located there. Her white hair surrounded her head like a cloud; she looked so peaceful. Gently, Leia removed Iaana's breath mask, searching her head as she did so for injuries. "She must have suffered a blow to her head when that explosion happened," Leia explained to Han standing nearby. She brushed a strand of white hair off of her friend's forehead. "There's nothing much we can do for her but wait until she wakes up, and there's no telling how long that will be."

A metallic shuffling sound and C-3PO entered the lounge. "Oh dear," his accented voice commented.

"3PO, would you watch Iaana for me, and let me know if there are any changes? I'll be in the cockpit."

"Certainly, Princess Leia. It is fortunate you found her before the entire ship blew to pieces."

Leia's eyes grew wide at the thought. "Han. Do you think we should disconnect now, before anything else decides to explode?" She turned and began walking toward the cockpit. "I- I want to thank you for acting so quickly. It must have seemed odd for her to be in a pirate vessel, at least I thought so. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation. She really is a nice girl." Han nodded, and Leia silently wondered if Han would get to see the real Iaana, hoping she would wake up._What was she doing with a pirate ship? And why wasn't she on Alderaan? Not that I would have wanted her to be there during the destruction. There are so many questions I want to ask her. Oh, Iaana, please wake up._

She reached the cockpit and plopped down in the copilot's, Chewie's, seat, staring blankly at the view screen. "You know, I wonder . . ." she began to mutter, thinking about the Hoth system: it's remoteness, isolation, and quite frankly, it's desolation.

...

Threepio watched the girl as he was told to do. After a few moments, he said, "Oh, _do_ wake up, Mistress Iaana." He gave an electronic sigh when she didn't comply, and so sat down off to the side and waited. He made note of her muttering, deciding he would bring it up with Princess Leia later. Not Captain Solo, however, he told himself. His manners were quite definitely lacking.

Chewbacca wandered in and growled a question. "Her name is Iaana Morranne," the droid answered. "Oh, I do hope we won't all be blown up by that pirate gunship."

Chewbacca guffawed, rumbling a reply that the explosions seemed to have been restricted to the port engine and the gravity well generator. Both were slagged, near as he could tell, but all other systems were operating fine. It wouldn't take too much to repair it. Just some hull needed replaced, along with the port engine and that door leading to the engine room. But to be safe, they should detach and wait a little ways away. "Precisely what Princess Leia suggested. She and Captain Solo are in the cockpit, doing just that, I suspect." Chewie growled his thanks, then listened to Iaana's muttering for a moment. Another question.

"I don't know," the droid replied. She keeps repeating odd phrases like 'perfect memory,' 'forgot food bar,' and 'armored man.' I can only tell you what the first one means and part of the second. Miss Morranne has nearly perfect memory, but has the odd tendency to forget minor things. I can only guess what she means by a food bar and an armored man, but I suspect they have something to do with the reason she has in her possession the personal gunship of the Blackstar Pirates' leader, Lex Parilstoe. Oh, don't look at me like that. Of course I know who they are. They wrought havoc in the Trade Routes near Alderaan. I kept in my memory every file on the pirates, to assist the captain of the _Tantive IV_. Two weeks ago, rumors surfaced that the pirate coalition had been trashed by some bounty hunter on his own, but that is highly improbable. But, I suspect, we'll find out if and when Miss Morranne wakes up."

When, the Wookiee growled. Not if, _when_. With that, he sauntered off to the cockpit, where he gave the details of his conversation with Threepio to Han when he wasn't too busy. Back in the lounge, Iaana added another phrase to the mix. "Don't wanna be a shield . . ."

Threepio thought this to be an odd statement, though if she were speaking thoughts from her past, it was possible she might unconsciously offer insight as to why in the worlds she had the _Black Dwarf_ in her possession. That would certainly help the Princess with her worries. Threepio remembered Iaana from several months back. She had been a rather pleasant girl, and certainly was not affiliated with pirates in any way.

Shifting his weight around so that he could sit without having to worry about Captain Solo's crazy flying - though he wouldn't do that with an injured passenger aboard who wasn't strapped in - Threepio settled into listening for more.

...

"Hey, _what_, now?" Han shook his head, listening to Chewie. "That droid has the oddest information." Beside him, Leia turned. "What'd he say?"

Han translated for her, and her brow furrowed. "Her father was a merchant. How would that affect your opinion of her?"

"Would certainly help in the area of figuring out just what had happened to her. Hey, Chewie. What were those phrases again?"

Chewbacca growled out an answer, and his friend nodded. "So the kid has perfect memory, except for the times when she forgets the minor things. This food bar, or whatever, could either be on her person, or it could be on the other ship. It's possible that all it means is that she forgot to eat last mealtime. The armored man thing, though . . ." Han frowned. "I can only guess about that one. There are quite a few armored bounty hunters in the galaxy."

"How do you know she's talking about a bounty hunter?"

"Well, think about it. For some reason or another, she was at the Blackstar Pirates' main base. Now, Threepio and Chewie said there was a rumor that, two weeks ago, some bounty hunter on his own busted apart the base and scattered the pirates, also killing Lex Parilstoe, their leader. That wouldn't be too hard, but it narrows the list down to armored bounty hunters who have the skill necessary to do it. Six, in fact."

"Oh? And who would they be?"

"You wouldn't recognize the names. Well, you would recognize one, but I think I'll keep the name to myself for now, until the kid wakes up and tells us herself. No sense in worrying Your Worship to death." He winked, giving Leia that crooked grin of his.

"Thank you," Leia answered sarcastically, then switched gears. "Han, this place . . . It's remote. Uninhabited. An ice planet. The Empire wouldn't think to look for us here."

Han gave her a knowing look. "I heard some group had once tried to settle on Hoth, Princess. Either they left because of the cold, or they all died from it. I don't know. But there's a good reason it's uninhabited. The temperatures are well below freezing in the daytime, most often in the very low sub-zeros. We're not landing."

Leia was more excited now, though. "You say there was a settlement once? Where?"

Han exchanged glances with Chewie and grimaced. "There," he said, pointing at a map. "Or somewhere in that area. They lived in ice caves."

"Perfect."

"No."

"Come on. The Alliance needs a base."

Han looked at her like she was crazy - and he honestly believed she was. "A base? Here? Leia, that's insane!"

"No it isn't. We could modify ships so that they can operate in the cold temperatures. We'll all stay bundled up, and we have plenty of winter gear."

"No."

"Just land. We'll only explore a bit."

Han stared at her, then turned to the controls. "Chewie?" he said. Leia slid out of the copilot seat to make way for the Wookiee, then sat in the navigation chair. "Besides," she said. "The navicomputer and the sensors need to be fixed. The sensors didn't spot the gunship until ten seconds after we both came out of hyperspace."

Han made a face. "You're right about that. Okay. Chewie, you're the mechanical genius. Leia and I will explore the caves while you work on the sensors, okay?" Chewie growled. "I'm not about to let the Princess explore without someone with her, and Goldenrod needs to keep an eye on the kid." He sent her a half-glare, then turned back. "I'd help you, but the Princess needs someone with her in case something _is_ alive down there. And you're the better mechanic. All right?"

Chewbacca responded that, no, it was not all right, but he would do it. "Great. Thanks, pal. Princess, what about your friend?"

"She'll be all right with Threepio watching her. He'll contact us when she wakes up. You know," she added, "she was a really great mechanic."

"She's not touching my ship," Han said emphatically. "Besides, she won't be up to it. And if she's such a great mechanic, why did her engine blow up?"

"Threepio said the ship used to belong to the Blackstar Pirates. Maybe she accidently turned on the gravity well projector and there was some code you had to input or it would blow up."

"Good theory. In the two weeks since the Blackstars fell, would she have looked at the engines at all?"

"Not if they were working just fine."

"Right." Han keyed the sensors - _Blast it, she's right. They _are _really slow. Must've been messed up by that jolt out of hyperspace. Or it could be something on the gunship that automatically activates. That could be handy against the Empire._ - and made sure there were no other ships around before he went down to the surface. Near as he could tell, there weren't any, but the sensors _were_ messed up.

"Well," he commented. "At least there's no one after us right now, huh?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Having come out of hyperspace to make a navigational correction, Fett activated the comm, entering the comlink code of one of the most important people in the galaxy. It wasn't long before Xizor answered. "Yes?" he asked sharply, though not too much so.

Fett was unaffected by the curt answer. "Prince Xizor," he greeted with a small nod. "I am close to fulfilling the first part of the assignment. The five datacards I've already collected detail shipments, other business dealings, and contacts. I expect the sixth datacard will be the one to reveal the location of their base. Any further instructions for after I find the sixth datacard?" He made no effort to inflate the Falleen's ego, to flatter or cower in fear. He felt no fear - only an urge to get this job done and get paid. There had been a time in the recent past where Xizor had tried to kill him, but that didn't affect the bounty hunter's plans. He trusted no one, anyway, and Xizor had changed his mind - a rare occurrence - about killing him. So why should he care?

"Fine; no further instructions except for you to contact me once you find it." There was a pause, then the Dark Prince added, "And don't fail me, Fett. I've let you go once, never again. Keep in mind that no one is so safe that they can avoid being burned by my Black Sun. Not even you."

Xizor hadn't intended to make Fett afraid, so he wasn't disappointed when Fett said unemotionally, "I won't fail. Likewise, don't doubt me." He turned away, saw the course was completed, and turned back. "I'll report within twenty-four hours or not at all." He bowed his head fractionally in a nod, then reached toward a switch to sign off. "Fett out." That done, Fett made the jump to lightspeed.

...

"Man, this place is cold." Han was glad that he carried top-notch cold weather gear aboard his ship. Without it, they would have been in trouble.

Leia just gave him one of her looks and continued on in her exploration of the ice caves. "Han, this place is perfect. It's warmer in these caves than it is outside, and we can close any openings with blast doors. No life-sign readings beyond the Tauntauns - you sure that's what the computer called them? - so we'd be alone on the planet."

"And that's a _good_ thing?"

"Han, admit it. This place would be great. It's just what the Alliance needs. Besides, might I add, if you haven't heard of it, the Empire surely hasn't."

Han scowled, knowing she was right. "Fine, then. Let's get back to the ship. We've been gone three hours or so."

"Think Iaana's awake yet?"

"Your droid would have contacted us if she was." As if on cue, Han's comlink beeped twice. He listened, then nodded to himself. "Great. We'll be there soon. How's Chewie doing on the repairs? Good. Solo out."

Leia watched him as he put the comlink away. "Is she awake?"

"Yep. Goldenrod's keepin' her company."

"Has she said anything?"

"Beyond that muttering before she woke up, groaning when she did, and saying hello after? No."

Leia led the way back at a brisk walk. "She's probably waiting for us."

"No, she's waiting for you. You'll be the one she wants to talk to. You were friends, after all."

Leia looked at him, smiling. "Why, Han. I never knew you could be so agreeable."

Han shrugged. "You bring out the best in me," he said, receiving a look in return. He merely gave her his trademark grin as he followed along. The rest of their journey back to the ship was silent as Leia fought to keep her anxiety and excitement under control. At last, rounding a bend in the old tunnel, they were welcomed by the sight of sparks flying up around the towering Wookiee. The _Falcon_ was dwarfed by the immense cavern, open to the bitter wind outside by means of a large opening. Seeing them, Chewbacca set his torch down and howled a greeting. "Hey, Chewie," Han returned. "How's it coming?"

The first mate's prognosis was good. If things went as well as they had been, he would be done in another hour or two.

"Well, take a break from it. Kid's awake, and I don't want her to have to tell her story twice."

The Wookiee let himself down from the top of the ship, growling his sympathy for the girl. "You said it, pal," Han agreed, but shut his mouth as they went aboard. Iaana was sitting up as they entered, looking a bit pale but steady. The paleness, Han decided, could be attributed to lack of sun.

A grin broke out on the kid's face as she saw Leia. "Princess . . ." she whispered. A thin hand wiped away tears gathering at her eyes. "I never thought I'd see you again."

Leia went over to her and took her in her arms. "Oh, Iaana . . . How . . . ?"

"I think Jaren's dead," the girl said abruptly as she buried her face in her friend's shoulder. Leia froze, staring down at the girl. "How did he . . . Oh. Oh, Iaana. I'm so sorry. I tried to stop them, but . . ."

Iaana pulled away, shaking her head. "It's not your fault, Leia. You hear me? It's not your fault. You all destroyed those responsible. Don't take that burden upon yourself."

Leia hugged her again, trying to hold back her own tears. "I hear you. What . . . What happened? How did you escape?"

"It's funny, and yet not funny. It all started out like any other day. Two weeks ago, I got out of bed thinking it would be. Any other day, that is." Iaana shook her head. "Oh, how wrong I was.

"School was going to start again soon. I said goodbye to my father, then went to the University to plan my classes with various teachers. After that, Jaren took me shopping for a dress. There was a party at the Palace in a few days, and this was the best way I knew to donate money to the Caamasi. After that, we went to dinner. Jaren proposed after we ate. We both agreed that I should stick the ring in my jacket for safekeeping until I got home. I stepped outside while Jaren payed the bill, and that's when I was grabbed from behind. I don't know who it was, or why I was being kidnapped, but I was. They sedated me. Next thing I knew, I woke up offworld, blindfolded. I could hear a lot going on around me, though. Turns out, I had been kidnapped by the Blackstar pirates." She told them everything that had happened after that, including how shell shocked she had been when she saw the Graveyard. "I didn't know what to do," she said at last, barely able to contain her emotions. "I started looking for the Alliance. Then, today, I arrived here at Hoth, because I heard you guys had an inkling for remote places, and I chose this place purely at random. It was in the _Black Dwarf_'s navicomputer, but no one ever comes here, so I figured this was as good a place to look as any."

"Good thing we were passing by," Han told her, "or you'd have been looking for a while longer." There was something bothering him, though, about her story. "Did you happen to catch the name of the armored guy?"

"No. Why?"

"Just wondering." The look on his face, however, told her that he wasn't "just wondering."

"You think you know who it is? 'Cause it's really bugging me."

"A suspicion is all, kid. In the meantime, you should get some rest. You're recovering from an injury, after all."

"My head's fine," she argued. "Please, I want to help somehow."

"You really should do as he says," came a familiar flat, emotionless voice.

Iaana and Leia gasped, even as Chewie and Han were turning to face the intruder. All Threepio could think to say was, "Oh, dear."

Han worked moisture into his suddenly dry mouth. "You."

Boba Fett nodded once. "I'm not here for you, the Wookiee, the droid, or the princess, Solo, so rest easy."

"How can I, when you didn't include the kid in there?"

"I do not wish to harm her. Step aside."

"Wishing and doing are two completely different things."

"True. Step aside, or I will be forced to stun you. My business is with Morranne, and her alone."

Han stubbornly remained where he was. "And what is this business, exactly?"

"She has something I need. Solo, this is the last time I tell you to _step aside_."

Iaana shivered at his suddenly sharp tone. She had no doubt that, patient as he was, he would deliver on his promise to stun them, leaving her all alone . . . Who knew what he would do then?

"I'm not worth the headache, Captain."

Han was surprised at his protectiveness as he stepped off to the side, muttering, "I beg to differ."

"Now we're getting somewhere. Place your weapons on the deck and move to that side of the room, all of you. Except you, Morranne. You stay where you are."

Iaana swallowed hard as she watched the others reluctantly obey. "Now what?"

Fett stepped up close to her, causing her to flinch. "Now you hand over the datacard."

"Datacard?" Iaana shrank back as he took another step closer. "What datacard?"

"_The_ datacard. The one Parilstoe placed in your pocket, telling you it was a food bar."

All the blood drained from Iaana's face, making it a sickly grey. "He did that?"

"He did."

Iaana seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. Behind her, Leia watched worriedly. She felt helpless to aid her friend, who looked to be very much afraid of the armored figure before them. Finally, the girl stuck her hand in her pocket.

Her expression changed to one of shock. Slowly, disbelievingly, she withdrew her hand and stared at the object grasped by it. "That sneak," she hissed softly. Iaana held it out, looking at it as if she thought it would bite her. Fett reached out and took the datacard from her, in the same moment dropping something cold, hard, and round into her palm. He closed her fist around it, then stepped back. "Parilstoe had it when I searched him. Don't lose it this time."

And with that . . . he was gone. Han stared at the doorway for a long moment, mystified. "Is it just me, or was that way out of character?"

Chewbacca growled in agreement. The moment up, they all turned to Iaana, who sat in shock on the couch. Her hand lay open, displaying the object to them. "I can hardly believe it," she whispered. They could well understand why.

The object shone in the artificial light, the single diamond on the gold band sparkling.

It was her ring.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Han was the first to make a sound. One couldn't call it speaking, because he didn't form any coherent words. All anyone could hear was a befuddled "huh," then footsteps moving away.

Leia glanced up. "Han, where are you going?"

"To work on the ship," he answered. "Come on, Chewie. I want to be off this ice cube before nightfall. We're going to take your hour or two and turn it into something shorter. Much shorter."

Iaana was still in a daze by the time they were gone. "I don't know what to say."

"Neither do any of us. Are you all right?"

"Yeah." Iaana slipped the ring onto her finger. "Princess?" she began, fiddling with the ring as she spoke, "what exactly happened? How did Alderaan die?"

Leia hesitated, studying her friend. Then she relayed everything: how she was captured by Vader, how Tarkin used the Death Star to destroy Alderaan, how she was rescued, and how Luke Skywalker delivered the death blow to the monstrous space station. She told her about her current mission, and how they were going to meet Luke on Zygoth. "You'll be able to meet him," she finished. "By the way, what are we going to do about the _Black Dwarf_?"

"Power it down and leave it in a stable orbit, or tow it down here. That thing could come in handy some day."

"Good idea." The ladies turned at the sound of footsteps, and watched as Han entered the room, carrying a small device with a datacard stuck to the top. "Found this at the ramp," he said, holding it out. Iaana took it from him. "Got a datapad?" she asked.

"Sure, here."

"Thanks." Iaana scratched all of the adhesive off of the datacard, the slipped it into the pad given to her. "Oh, wow," she murmured upon reading the message. She fell speechless immediately after, prompting Leia to take the datapad and read the message aloud. "'Your ship has a homing beacon aboard. Use this tracking device to locate it. One more thing . . . You don't owe me anything. Fair trade all around.' Signed, B.F."

Han was baffled by the message. "I don't get it."

"'B.F.' is obviously Boba Fett," Iaana murmured.

"Well, yeah, I figured that. I just don't get why he would do something like this. As I said, it's so out of character."

"Does anyone really know him? I don't. So I'm not going to try to figure him out."

"That's probably a good idea. Well, we're close to finishing. A couple more minutes, and we can go take care of your new ship."

"Good." Iaana smiled in relief. "And then we can get to Zygoth, and this meeting of yours."

Leia frowned slightly. "I hope Luke's not getting himself in trouble."

Han shook his head, finding himself smiling. "This is Luke we're talking about. Of _course_ he's getting himself in trouble."

...

"They're not here, Artoo."

A shrill whistle answered the pilot's announcement. As the translation traced its way across the screen in front of him, Luke found himself smiling. "I'm sure they're fine, Artoo. They probably got a little sidetracked, that's all."

Even as he said this, he knew it wasn't entirely true. He actually was worried about them, even though he had the distinct feeling that they were just fine. If they were hurt, he was pretty sure he would know. He might not be a Jedi yet, but he could still sense things like that through the Force.

He sighed, knowing he couldn't stay in his X-wing all day waiting for them. "Artoo, I'm going to go take a look around. Hold down the fort for me, will you?"

The little droid whistled back, reminding him that a fighter such as this was hardly a fort.

"It's close enough, my friend," Luke laughed. "Just warn me if anyone starts poking around." He hopped out, beginning his short trek across the deck of the small, open landing bay. "I'll be back in a little while!"

An hour later, he was still exploring the city. He had checked in with Artoo twice, but nothing was out of the ordinary at the ship. He found it odd, though, that he didn't see any stormtroopers at all, even though it was supposedly an Imperial-held planet. _Maybe I'll go to one of the lower levels of the city and look around,_ he decided. The top level had yielded nothing of interest – more specifically, there were no Imperials – and the starfighter pilot was getting suspicious.

Anyhow, regardless of how intelligent of a move it was, he was exploring the third level down, now, noting how it seemed like he was underground. This he doubted, as this level was still high above ground level.

_There're people over there,_ he mused, curious if they would know anything about the lack of Imperial presence. They were humans, two of them, and were dressed in mechanics' overalls. They were chatting amiably, unaware of the young man nearby, now listening in on their conversation. "So, Jon," one said, speaking to his slightly taller companion. "What's the business today?"

Jon shrugged, looking at the datapad in his hands. "The usual, I guess. More maintenance work on the ships."

"Again?"

"Of course, again. If a real Imperial dropped by, we'd have to show a ship-shape image, right?"

Luke's breath caught in his throat, confusion flashing across his mind at the speed of light. _"Real" Imperials? What does that mean?_

"How'd we ever get caught up in this?"

Jon rolled his eyes. "We joined the Novastars, that's how, Petrov."

Petrov looked around quickly, as if checking the shadows for spies. "We still planning on remedying that mistake?"

"Of course, if you still want to go through with it. We just have to wait until that princess gets here and Burnes has her as a hostage. Then we'll be moving bases, and we can get out of this without worrying about knowing the current base."

Luke could hardly believe his ears. _Leia! I have to warn her somehow. But . . . I don't know where she is. All right, Luke, calm down. Think. The Novastars are pirates. You've dealt with pirates._

"Hey, who are you?"

Luke turned, swallowing hard. A stormtrooper stood before him, but if he had heard correctly, this was one of the pirates. "Sorry," he said, thinking quickly. "I'm just a little lost."

The stormtrooper/pirate stepped closer. "Hey, you look familiar . . ."

"Really?"

"Yeah . . . Hey! You're that Rebel!"

Luke knew he was in for it now. He turned heel and ran for all he was worth.

The pirate chased after him, shouting to the two mechanics. "Stop him! It's Skywalker!"

Luke realized he was heading deeper into the city, but knew there was nothing he could do about it. He pulled out his blaster as he ran, and returned the fire coming his way. As he fled, he muttered a phrase he decided was starting to sound rather cliché. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

...

Boba Fett was pleased. True to his word, he had recovered the sixth and last datacard, and had contacted Xizor within his self-imposed twenty-four hour time limit. The Novastars, rivals of the former Blackstars in every sense of the word, were based on the world of Zygoth. Upon relating this discovery, he had been ordered by the Falleen to continue on to the planet, and to wipe out that group. They had been a thorn in Black Sun's side long enough.

Had he known the events that were to take place on that world, he would later reflect, he might not have been so willing to continue this job. He was too soft with Morranne, for some unknown reason. _The last thing I want,_ he decided as he jumped to lightspeed, _is to be indebted to that girl._

Then again, he would later remember, things hardly ever went the way one wanted.

**End Part One**


End file.
